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Iraqis to be consulted on handover

Iraq’s Governing Council wants to hear from local people on how to transfer power from the US-led occupation authority to a native government, the leader of the body's main Shia party has said.

30 Nov 2003 18:43 GMT

Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim says Iraqi officials will test popular opinion

The head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim, told Aljazeera on Sunday his colleagues on the council had taken “a unanimous decision” to consult popular opinion.

He gave no details about how this consultation would take place.

The US-led authority and the interim Governing Council it installed announced jointly on 15 November a new transitional administration would be set up by 30 June 2004, which would “assume full sovereign powers for governing Iraq”.

A basic law is due to be codified by March 2004, and an interim representative assembly is expected to be picked by June.